This week on the farm, the “busy” light switch was flipped. Last week ended with some much needed soaking rains, praise the good Lord above! We desperately needed the moisture as we have had one of the driest growing seasons on record. While we certainly supplemented hydration with sprinklers, garden hoses, and irrigation, the plants know the real deal and respond accordingly. Our crops are very appreciative of the favor Mother Nature paid us, but so are the weeds, which means we have to double down on every inch of the property. Between planting, weeding, and harvesting, our days are jam-packed.

We are installing the new woody field I talked about last week and are making some last ditch efforts for end-of-season crops in the field. Everything we plant for fall is a straight-up gamble. But I don't hide from calculated risk, and the cost of seeds is quickly offset by the chance of late fall blooms (fingers crossed). With a little frost luck and extra effort, we might be able to eke out a few more weeks from some of our favorite late summer crops like celosia, amaranthus, and marigolds.

But this week, our biggest farm project is seeding. We never stop sowing, planting, and starting new life cycles, but the next few weeks will be filled with lots of preparation for our 2022 spring annuals. The fields are being prepped concurrently with filling hundreds of trays with seed crops that we will plant in late October. These babies will be covered all winter long, allowing them to grow strong root systems over the coldest months and spring forth with blooms the second the weather breaks next year.

While we sow these crops, we start asking ourselves what the vibe is for 2022 and planning our feelings for the spring in flowers! Do we want to emphasize the bold and powerful? Talking to you rudbeckia. Do we want to feel light-hearted and spirited? How about orlaya. Want to giggle and feel supported? Go for bupleurum. Need some soothing tranquility? You up, monarda. The crops let us map out how we want to feel next spring.

Planning our seeds for the spring sometimes makes me feel like a psychiatrist listening to your feelings and prescribing the right flower antidote- you could say I have a Ph.D. in flower emotions. It’s been fun to discuss the feelings and emotions connected with each plant as we plan out technical details. There’s a lot of “Hey, how does this flower make you feel or think of?” and a lot of Googling images, too!

So, how do you want to feel? We pack a lot of emotions into the flowers we grow and try to cover every one. It's a unique concept to plant your gardens based on how you want to feel when the winter is over. We are planting rows of happiness, support, smiles, joy, respect, kindness, compassion, and of course, LOVE. I can’t wait to see how emotionally vibrant our spring garden will turn out! And you won’t want to miss seeing it either as we plan new ways for you to enjoy and discover the farm next year.

We have rows that feel powerful, plants that feel supportive, blooms that make you smile, and flowers that are sentimental. The bouquets we will provide you with this spring are more than flowers, they are a whole field of feelings for you to experience.

- xoxo, Jess